Frye: Hit reset button before planning for 2020

As the farm’s leader and CEO, an important part of your role is to look forward and make future plans. But when you don’t know your results or “how you did” this year, there can be a lot of uncertainty around how to even begin to start planning for 2020. Without those numbers, it can feel like you’re aiming in the dark.

Release The Baggage

Many farmers may be carrying some mental and emotional “baggage” along from this trying year. Working to reduce and eliminate that as much as possible will lighten the load and help with moving more confidently into the next year. Here are a few suggestions.

• Reset your mindset. Particularly after a challenging crop year like 2019, hitting the "reset" button on your mindset can be helpful. Otherwise, it can be tough to move forward with planning for the next year at all. Consider taking some time by yourself, with your spouse or with business partners to intentionally set aside any frustrations or other emotions the past year brought up. Then, resolve to move forward with renewed optimism and hope as you plan for 2020. As we all know, every year in farming is different!

• Use solid estimates and planning tools. Be sure to use tools and technology that incorporate all the moving pieces of your operation, including your operation's financials, logistics and crop insurance, as you make plans for 2020. Our advisers can help you get this in place to visualize how all the pieces of your operation come together.

• Get the right support in place. We can also think about this past year in terms of how we did or didn't get the support we needed from others. I'm thinking of this both in terms of emotional support from friends and family, as well as support from advisers, suppliers, lenders and others we work with in our farm businesses. An important support person to have in your corner is a market adviser. As you think about making plans for 2020, consider whether you had the type of support you wanted this past year when it comes to marketing and merchandising plans. Take action to find the right support for you, your operation and your goals.

Big Challenges, Smart Solutions

Another idea as we move into 2020 is to think about the single largest business challenge that your operation is facing. Go beyond outside causes and think in terms of how you as the CEO and your operation are dealing with it, on a day to day level.

It might be a financial metric where the operation can’t seem to move the needle, or difficulty with finding the right lender relationship, or trouble with finding and keeping the right employees. Maybe it’s a lack of proactive risk management that continues to create ongoing problems.

Whatever it may be, it’s usually the thing that causes the most headaches and sleepless nights. Once you’ve identified it, here are three ways to think differently about this challenge.

Take responsibility. Our human tendency often is to look for someone or something else to blame. Some are more prone to doing this than others. But in order to get on track to improve results, it's important to start by taking responsibility first.

Sort out what you can control from what you can’t. Don’t try to take responsibility for something that’s truly out of your control: the weather, for example. However, you can take responsibility for your actions, reactions and responses.

Redefine the problem. You may believe you've already tried everything there is to try to solve the problem. Consider redefining how you're looking at the challenge.

Back up a step further and think about the root cause or causes. Don’t think about the symptoms or how the problem appears on your farm, only the potential roots.

Get creative about solutions. Once you've determined a possible root cause, focus on that instead of how the problem is manifested. Brainstorm solutions that address the root cause rather than the symptoms.

Who can you enlist to help implement solutions? If marketing and risk management may be a cause of some of your challenges, get in touch with our market advisers now to talk about planning.

Darren Frye is president and CEO of Water Street Solutions.